The present invention relates to a camera including a flexible printed circuit board (hereinafter referred to as an "FPC") having electronic parts such as an IC mounted thereon.
An FPC, which is thin and can be bent easily, is used in many cases as a printed circuit board for mounting electronic parts used in a camera having a small allowance in the mounting space. When mounted in a camera, however, the FPC must be bent by substantially 180.degree. in some cases because of the restriction in respect of the outer contour of the electronic part mounted in the camera or the mounting space of the camera body. Where the FPC is bent by about 180.degree., the electronic parts mounted thereon tend to be brought into mutual contact, making it necessary to take some measures for insulation. Further, in accordance with the recent tendency toward miniaturization of the camera, there is a need for a printed circuit board capable of mounting electronic parts at a higher density.
Under the circumstances, measures are taken to decrease the ratio of the mounting area of an IC to the area of the printed circuit board by subjecting an IC having a relatively large outer contour of the package such as a CPU among the electronic parts mounted on a printed circuit board for a camera to a flip chip mounting (hereinafter referred to as "mounting").
The FC mounting is featured in that, since a bare chip, i.e., a bare LSI chip which is not sealed and not packaged, is directly connected to a wiring pattern of a printed circuit board by using, for example, an anisotropic conductive adhesive, it is possible to minimize the IC mounting area. Feature articles on the FC mounting are carried in, for example, a technical magazine "NIKKEI ELECTRONICS, No. 633, pp 80-90" published on Jun. 3, 1996.
Further, Jpn. Pat. Appln. KOKAI Publication No. 6-233196 discloses an idea of forming an insulating sheet integrally on an FPC (flexible printed circuit board). It is possible for electronic parts which are FC-mounted on an FPC to have a positional relationship such that these electronic parts face each other when the FPC is bent by about 180.degree.. The insulating sheet formed in JP '196 is intended to prevent short circuiting between the electronic parts when the FPC is bent. As a matter of fact, how to prevent short circuiting between electronic parts is a main object of JP '196.
However, if a plurality of electronic parts such as ICs, which are mounted on an FPC, are positioned to face each other when the FPC is bent, the thickness of the bent FPC is unavoidably increased in the portion where the electronic parts are positioned to face each other. It should also be noted that the insulating sheet is formed integrally with the FPC used as a printed circuit board in JP '196, with the result that the outer contour of the FPC is rendered larger and more complex in proportion to the number of bending times. Further, the bent FPC is rendered bulky with increase in the number of bending times, making it necessary to ensure an extra mounting space within the camera body.